A San Antonio company specializing in the development of trauma-care technology has received a $2.5 million investment from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund.

Speer Medical Devices Inc., headed by entrepreneur David Spencer, is developing a portable vital-signs monitor that can be deployed in the field by military medics.

The monitor uses noninvasive measurements to track eight vital signs including hemoglobin levels, which are an early indicator of hemorrhage.

"This investment is exactly what the ETF was designed to do," Spencer said. "It's to commercialize an opportunity in Texas that did not have the chance to be commercialized here otherwise."

A former chairman of the Emerging Technology Fund, Spencer sold his first company, OnBoard Software, for $34 million in 2005.

The state receives an equity position in the companies it invests in through the fund, which has put more than $196.2 million in 132 early-stage companies since its creation in 2005.

"This TETF investment in Speer Medical will help improve the medical treatment given to men and women who are injured on the battlefield," Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement. Combat medics will be able to treat life-threatening injuries more quickly with Speer Medical's monitor, he said.

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